Medical pumps, such as syringe pumps or peristaltic infusion pumps, are known for computer-controlled delivery of medication as well as hydration and nutrition agents (henceforth medicaments) to patients over a period of time. Typically the medicament is at in a syringe (for a syringe pump) or a flexible bag or a bottle (for peristaltic infusion pump, or ambulatory pump) that may be connected to a flexible tube and attached to a needle inserted into the patient.
When a healthcare professional ministering to the patient receives the medicament, the healthcare professional reviews the medicament description for correctness and enters the desired dose and rate into the pump. Other pump parameters such as alarm limits and the like may also be programmed into the pump at this time. The syringe or flexible tube must then be mechanically connected to the pump mechanism, the needle introduced into the patient, and the mechanism activated to begin pumping.
Current medical pumps can be costly driven in part by the need for long-lived mechanical components and a desire to avoid costly servicing. The operating costs of current medical pumps are also high because of the complexity attendant to having attending nurses or healthcare professionals program the pumps for the proper dosage for the patient and according to the particular drug.
Often a patient will need multiple simultaneous or sequential medicament deliveries involving, for example, multiple syringes, multiple bags and multiple pumps. The process of collecting the necessary pumps near the patient, installing the syringes, flexible tubes and bags, and properly programming the different pumps can be time-consuming and difficult even for skilled practitioners. The existence of multiple medicaments also greatly increases the possibility of confusing medicaments by installing them in the wrong pumps, programming the different pumps incorrectly, or even confusing the flexible tubes and their locations. When multiple medicaments are introduced to a patient, the risk of adverse interactions between drugs must be assessed by the healthcare professional. This may not always occur if different personnel are responsible for different medicaments and the medicaments are provided at different times.